Ruins

Even though they had learned the method to clear the grotto, the guild team couldn't feel happy about it in the slightest. Who hadn't done something bad in their life? Could things like that just be blurted out? A major offense could cost a life; a minor one could ruin one's reputation. How could anyone keep face in the community afterward? Xiao Yuan's face suddenly darkened. She was the one least willing to look back on her past. *The clearance rule might be ridiculous, but at least there's no danger to our lives. And if everyone joins in, it'll actually be a lot of fun. Hmm... the deeply calculating World Returns to Fire, the tight-lipped Zhao Chenghuang, the seemingly soft and cute yet crafty Sun Miaomiao, Brother Red Chicken representing Elder Jiangbao, and Xiahou Aotian, who is supposed to be a Scholar but is completely thick-headed...* Zhang Yuanqing swept his eyes over his teammates, an idea suddenly popping into his head. "Xiahou Aotian, come back first. I have a suggestion," World Returns to Fire called out urgently. Xiahou Aotian stopped in his tracks. Having already weathered one blow, he would not be attacked as long as he didn't keep advancing. "What is it?" Protagonist Xiahou asked. "If confessing is all it takes to clear the grotto, there's no need for us to go through together. You take Little Red Riding Hood, and we'll hide inside," World Returns to Fire said. "No one will hear what you say, and we can bypass confessing, keeping our privacy intact." He emphasized the word "privacy" heavily, hoping this off-the-rails teammate who styled himself the protagonist would realize he was still a mortal after all, distinct from the righteous, positive-energy protagonists of heroic stories. Xiahou Aotian caught World Returns to Fire's hint. He pondered for a moment and thought it made sense. After all, confessing to stealing his dad's hidden stash of cash to pay off debts was hardly flattering. "Good idea!" Xiahou Aotian turned back. "Yuanshi Tianzun, give me the red hat." Zhang Yuanqing ignored him and turned to Xiao Yuan instead. "Go stay inside the hat for a while." Every evil profession had a past that was either painful, despairing, or dark—a wound they least wanted to revisit in their life. Xiao Yuan hadn't confessed during the master's sermon, which showed that whatever weighed on her heart was something she never wanted made public. Xiao Yuan let out a breath of relief. She gave Zhang Yuanqing a soft glance, then vanished from everyone's sight into the hat. Next, Zhang Yuanqing ignored Xiahou Aotian's outstretched hand, stowed Little Red Riding Hood into his inventory, and said, "We are all upright gentlemen here. None of us have done anything shameful. Follow me straight inside." *Straight inside my ass...* Everyone looked at him with expressions that practically screamed, *Are you out of your mind?* Yet Zhang Yuanqing seemed completely serious as he strode into the grotto. "You—" Sun Miaomiao let out a short gasp from behind. *Is this something a decent person would do?* Watching Yuanshi Tianzun step into the grotto, World Returns to Fire frowned, being the first to deduce Yuanshi Tianzun's calculation: *Does he want to seize this chance to test whether anyone in the team has succumbed to power and lust, gradually falling from grace? Or whether someone has become a mole for Dark Night Rose?* *Is Yuanshi Tianzun trying to plumb our depths?* Zhao Chenghuang had a similar thought. Unlike World Returns to Fire's conspiracy theory, however, Zhao Chenghuang believed Yuanshi Tianzun was doing this to strengthen the bonds between teammates—and to hold leverage over one another. Because of their journey into the underground palace of Qinfeng Academy, they were grasshoppers tied to the same rope. Now that they had joined the Return of the Dead guild, their ties had grown tighter, long surpassing simple friendships or professional colleague relations. They were more like a small clique walking forward hand in hand, sharing mutual interests. Yet upon closer reflection, they didn't know one another very well. Aside from Sun Miaomiao, whom he had known since childhood, Zhao Chenghuang knew very little about World Returns to Fire, Xiahou Aotian, or even Yuanshi Tianzun. They hadn't known each other long and hadn't crossed paths often. Without shared interests binding them together, they would never have gathered. True friendship took time. As the saying went, time reveals a person's heart. Without the accumulation of time, how could anyone know someone inside out? Now, however, was an opportunity. Zhang Yuanqing took step after step forward, calling out loudly, "I once used a telescope to peek at my uncle entering a hair salon, and I used that to blackmail him for money." Three steps in, nothing happened. He immediately reached a conclusion, turned his head, and said, "A shameful deed must refer to something illegal, a breach of discipline, or against conscience and morality. Pranks don't count, unless they are exceptionally egregious and led to severe consequences. Everyone be careful. Don't state the wrong thing, and don't lie. It'll get you killed." With that, he took three more steps forward and shouted, "I shouldn't have stolen property and framed a classmate who bullied me, forcing him to transfer to another school!" *Was this kid this sinister from childhood? First blackmailing his uncle, then framing his classmate...* Guan Ya and the others listened in utter disbelief. World Returns to Fire sighed. "Let's go in. He clearly wants us to be completely open and honest with each other." The group hesitated, gritting their teeth in annoyance. Brother Red Chicken was the first to dash toward the grotto, chest puffed out high. "The first time I killed someone was at fourteen. I chopped up a traitor from the Black Dragon Society—think his name was Ah Hui... Oh, right, back in junior high I broke a rich kid's leg because he was hitting on a chick I liked... Once tossed a deadbeat who defaulted on usurious loans into the river, forgot his name..." Usury, extortion, aggravated assault, bribing officials... Reciting his crimes one by one, he strutted along, quickly overtaking Zhang Yuanqing and reaching the exit without a hitch. He practically became the showiest star of the team. The second star was Commandery Princess Yinyao. Holding her little loudspeaker, she strode forward. An unhurried voice issued from the speaker: "At age eight, pushed younger brother into the lotus pond and framed Consort Zhang; felt deep regret... At age ten, pushed Lady Liu, who vied with mother for favor, down a well... At sixteen, disliked a maidservant, ordered her death. Disliked a house servant, ordered his death. Disliked imperial father, ordered his secondary consort's death. Assassinated court officials to eliminate political rivals for imperial father..." *Are these two demons?* The teammates were dumbfounded. Item by item, deed by deed, it was ruthless, cold-blooded, and heartless. Considering Commandery Princess Yinyao was a ruler in a feudal dynasty, they concluded Brother Red Chicken was actually the more vicious one in modern society. Brother Red Chicken and Commandery Princess Yinyao reached the exit one after another. Looking back, the others were still lingering outside the grotto, while the toxic fumes had drifted through the corridor and begun lapping at the grotto's edges. Brother Red Chicken shouted, "It's just killing and plundering! What's there to hesitate about? The poison fumes are already licking Asano Ryo's back!" Asano Ryo gasped, springing into the grotto as if zapped by electricity. Throwing caution to the wind, she yelled, "After becoming a spirit realm walker, I ambushed a clan sister who often mocked me and accidentally beat her half to death! I... I've regretted it ever since!" Having spoken, she looked cautiously around at everyone, only to find their faces utterly placid, as if what she said was nothing more than a trivial matter. Asano Ryo let out a long sigh of relief, feeling completely unburdened. Zhao Chenghuang stepped expressionlessly into the grotto, speaking as he walked: "When I was young, out of jealousy toward Lingjun, I incited the sect master's other children to bully him." Ahead, Zhang Yuanqing halted abruptly. "Zhao Chenghuang, you did that? You're pretty petty and jealous! I'm telling Lingjun!" Zhao Chenghuang said with a cold face, "Do as you please." Just as he finished speaking, he heard Sun Miaomiao whisper behind him: "A few years ago, Zhao Chenghuang and I got into an argument on the forum over a difference of opinion. I switched to an alt account and flamed him for three days straight until he retreated into complete social withdrawal, and then in real life I pretended to be a good friend and comforted him. He was so grateful to me. As a friend, I feel just a tiny bit of guilt." Zhao Chenghuang looked as if struck by lightning. He stared at her in disbelief, struck by the dazed agony of a man toyed with by a manipulative woman. "In the three years since joining the official organization, I illegally amassed five million," World Returns to Fire said, taking three steps. "After transferring to Songhai, I accepted two million in bribes." Another three steps. Everyone stared at him in silence. Tensing his face, World Returns to Fire explained, "The Five Elements Alliance is no different from officialdom. If you want to get along, you have to take people's money, and you have to grease palms too. I was merely adapting to the environment." "Explaining is just disguising," Xiahou Aotian muttered. World Returns to Fire's mouth twitched. The toxic fumes surged toward Guan Ya. Giving the heartless man a fierce glare, she took a deep breath, swiftly entered the grotto, and lowered her voice: "In middle school, Fu Qingyang and I teamed up to buy a cursed item from the black market and used it to curse my mother. Mother almost died in a car accident and was bedridden in the hospital for half a month. To this day, she still thinks she was targeted by a business competitor." Her voice was kept very low, but everyone present was a Saint with sharp ears and eyes, and heard every word clearly. The group looked at Guan Ya with bizarre expressions. Sun Miaomiao opened her mouth wide. "What grudge do you have against your mother? Are you not her biological daughter?" Guan Ya retorted in irritation, "None of your damn business." Sun Miaomiao curled her lip. Seeing the poison mist swirling behind her, she hurried forward. "I used an alt account on the forum to post a ton of defamatory, abusive threads attacking Yin Ji, spearheading a wave of cyberbullying—because I felt that her romance with the Demon Lord brought shame to the Taiyi Sect. And... and a tiny bit of jealousy. I deeply regret it..." World Returns to Fire: "Maintained improper affairs with several female subordinates. Mutual benefit, never loved any of them." Xiahou Aotian: "In junior high, my dad wanted to make an alt account—have another kid—so every day I slipped special contraceptives into his liquor. He tried hard for three years without success and had to give up on having a second child. Now he seems permanently sterile." Asano Ryo: "Whenever I was short on pocket money, I'd use the Asano clan's name to extort protection money from chaebol kids." Zhao Chenghuang: "Accidentally killed an Orderly walker. Didn't dare admit it to the organization. Guilty to this day." Zhang Yuanqing lamented in grief and outrage, "If Demonic Eye were here, every last one of you would be dead!" Confessing one after another, the group advanced methodically. Countless old skeletons in their closets were dragged out into the open. A man devoid of moral integrity like Zhang Yuanqing had committed numerous illegal acts targeting his uncle alone. Sun Miaomiao's offenses mostly revolved around cyberbullying—bullying this person today, that person tomorrow, and her own grandfather the day after. The things World Returns to Fire confessed to were the most egregious in nature, involving trading power for sex, accepting bribes, paying bribes, and engaging in many of officialdom's standard operating procedures. Guan Ya's sins mainly targeted her parents: writing anonymous whistleblowing letters to the Heaven's Punishment organization to report her father; taking secret nude photos of her mother and mailing them to her to create panic as revenge for domestic abuse; and when targeted by female classmates during school, using family connections to intimidate them, almost resulting in a fatality once. After a few minutes, everyone had gained a far deeper understanding of one another, having witnessed each other's darkest inner secrets. At last, they made it out of the grotto and reached the exit. "Phew..." Everyone let out a breath of relief, Zhang Yuanqing included. Although he acknowledged he hadn't been an easy child and had done plenty of wrong things, he didn't necessarily remember everything from his youth. Moreover, he wasn't sure whether frequently indulging his right hand and sharing lewd pictures with his maternal aunt counted as shameful deeds. If the grotto had been ten meters longer, he would have had to expose himself saving Demonic Eye and being the Demon Lord's successor. "We finally cleared it," Sun Miaomiao exhaled as though utterly drained. "Yes, all recorded," Commandery Princess Yinyao said, patting her waist pouch. *Huh?* Everyone turned in unison to look at her. A vein popped on Zhang Yuanqing's forehead. He hastily said, "Even though she possesses sentience, she occasionally says strange things and acts weirdly. Just ignore her." Cooperating, Commandery Princess Yinyao straightened her back and froze, pretending to be a mindless yin corpse. Except for Guan Ya, the others barely accepted his excuse. Zhang Yuanqing sighed inwardly. Perhaps because she had spent so much time among the living, Commandery Princess Yinyao was gradually regaining her humanity. Having wandered the world for a century, her aloof disregard for fame and wealth was also slowly resurfacing. —*Sigh, she's just having fun!* At the villa, she constantly fanned the flames, egging on Queen, Lingxi, and Guan Ya to engage in petty harem battles. Outside, she stirred up trouble at every turn, speaking without restraint, knowing how to act dumb, how to be wise, how to make memes, and how to catch references. It was truly a headache. Zhang Yuanqing took out Little Red Riding Hood and gave it a shake. The tall, aloof, and glamorous Xiao Yuan tumbled out. Looking around and seeing no one was injured, she gave a slight nod. "Very good!" She then glanced at Guan Ya. The mixed-blood young lady of the Fu family wore a frosty expression, unhappiness practically written all over her face, refusing to even spare her boyfriend a glance. Clearly, Yuanshi Tianzun's concern when Xiao Yuan was poisoned and his preferential treatment in shielding only her had provoked Guan Ya's intense jealousy. Xiao Yuan let out a soft "Heh" and curled her lips into a smile. In response, the veins on Guan Ya's smooth forehead twitched. "Forward march!" Zhang Yuanqing called out, pretending not to notice the subtle squabbling between the two women, and led his less-than-cheerful teammates onward. The three-meter-wide corridor twisted and turned, its wall niches holding oil bowls. Along the way, they encountered no corpses, indicating this corridor had no traps or mechanisms. Sure enough, after walking for a dozen minutes, they met no danger. "There's wind..." Xiao Yuan suddenly said. Rounding a bend, bright light greeted their eyes, and the view opened up abruptly. Before them lay a naturally formed cavern. Above hung a sliver of blue sky, while the other half was an overhanging rock face draped with bead-curtain-like vines. Throughout the cavern were dilapidated buildings and broken mechanist contraptions. Beneath the cliff lay a deep pool, beside which stood a teetering waterwheel, with bamboo flumes scattered around it for channeling water. In addition, wooden mechanist arrow cylinders were embedded into the cliff walls, though due to centuries of neglect, they had long rotted away. "When I rode the wind to scout earlier, I didn't see this cavern." Darkness surged in Zhang Yuanqing's eye sockets as he activated Spirit Devouring, scanning the massive cavern. "No aura of spiritual entity activity." Guan Ya pressed a finger to her forehead, sending out ripples of faint white light. "No aura of living activity." Only then did the group descend along a weed-choked path. After just a few paces, Guan Ya discovered several skeletal remains hidden in the grass. After inspecting them, she said, "The armor on these corpses matches what we saw outside; they should be Jin soldiers. The other two have no armor, and judging by their rotten clothing, they were likely Mohist Sect disciples." Xiahou Aotian habitually stroked his chin and analyzed, "So the truth behind the Mohist Sect's demise is clear: the Jin did it. The Jin took that legendary treasure from the Mohist Sect, then marched south and battered the Northern Song into the Southern Song." "We don't even know the reign title or era yet; your conclusion is too arbitrary," Guan Ya mused. "Still, the fall of the Mohist Sect is definitely tied to the Jin. I believe that treasure is still inside the Mohist Sect, or else an S-rank dungeon difficulty wouldn't make sense." World Returns to Fire said, "The Mohist Sect is located in the southwest. For Jin soldiers to push all the way here means the Northern Song was already gone. This buried history likely occurred during the Southern Song. Furthermore, the Mohist Sect falling to Jin encirclement might just be the surface truth, or the main quest would be far too simple. Now, it all depends on how much information we can gather." Zhang Yuanqing grunted in acknowledgment. "Spread out and search the place." The cavern was fairly large, containing over thirty buildings. Most had collapsed, and those still standing were on the verge of ruin, their rotten wooden structures barely supported by rammed-earth walls. They uncovered numerous skeletons—Jin soldiers and Mohist disciples intertwined, some with bones fused together, showing how fierce the battle had been back then. After searching the entire area, they found nothing. Moreover, there was nowhere left to go. This natural cavern seemed to be the heart of the Mohist Sect. The group searched all around, but saw no path leading elsewhere. "I searched along the rock face and found no mechanisms. There's no way forward," Xiahou Aotian said. "Have you checked beneath the ruins?" Zhang Yuanqing asked. "I sent spirit servants to phase through walls and debris to check everything. No hidden compartments or mechanisms," Sun Miaomiao replied, shaking her head. They definitely hadn't completed the dungeon map, yet they had hit an impasse. They couldn't find the path to the next stage. "I found something rather interesting," Guan Ya said, pointedly refusing to look at Zhang Yuanqing as she pointed toward the pool beneath the rock cliff. "Look closely over there."